Re: NSW Forward Pack

Re: NSW Forward Pack

Ticker snicker. NSW aren't going to beat QLD by having more ticker. What NSW need is somebody in their team who can create something in the last 10 minutes to win them a game. Everyone that I think they will pick are more opportunists - people who can see a hole open up and take advantage - and that includes their halves. What they really need is somebody who can put something on from nothing, which is why I think Mateo has to be there (from a NSW point of view). I think his absence is a big plus for QLD.

Re: NSW Forward Pack

I'd go pretty much the same except swap Williams and Bird. Williams provides more impact from the bench than Bird would, and Bird's form this year is deserving on a spot. He's been one of very few shining lights for the Toidens.

Re: NSW Forward Pack

Yes I did and his performances in '11 weren't better than what Mannah, Snowden or Galloway were dishing up.

Let's review the defensive skills of your NSW pack.

Gallen - Can be pretty soft on the line and has conceded plenty of tries there for Australia & NSW.
Buderus - Great defender. Pretty much his only positive aspect...other than not being Ennis.
Grant - Solid defender WHEN fit.
Watmough - LOL
Williams - DOUBLE LOL
Lewis - Solid but has weaknesses.

Tamou - Improved, but it wasn't even a year ago he was right up there as one of the worst defensive forwards in the game.
Merrin - Bench forward esque.
Bird - Only just better than Watmough. Seen plenty of shockers from him.

Re: NSW Forward Pack

Originally Posted by Big Pete

Yes I did and his performances in '11 weren't better than what Mannah, Snowden or Galloway were dishing up.

Let's review the defensive skills of your NSW pack.

Gallen - Can be pretty soft on the line and has conceded plenty of tries there for Australia & NSW.
Buderus - Great defender. Pretty much his only positive aspect...other than not being Ennis.
Grant - Solid defender WHEN fit.
Watmough - LOL
Williams - DOUBLE LOL
Lewis - Solid but has weaknesses.

Tamou - Improved, but it wasn't even a year ago he was right up there as one of the worst defensive forwards in the game.
Merrin - Bench forward esque.
Bird - Only just better than Watmough. Seen plenty of shockers from him.

Errrm ok. QLD pack isn't any better, so what point are you trying to prove? QLD can win with a few shakey defenders, and so can NSW.

Scott - More missed tackles than any other QLD forward in last year's series.
Petero - No explaination needed. Obviously a big man who can get caught out a bit. Can be very slow in and around the ruck.
Thaiday - Lol. Can get extremely lazy in defence.
Myles - See Thaiday.
Parker - See Cowboys game.
Taylor - Bahaha.

Only Cameorn Smith and Ashley Harrison can be classed as great defenders in the QLD pack. Other than them, there are question marks over the rest like ANY other team in the competition - Therefore, suggesting that the NSW pack is "asking" for trouble is extremely far fetched.

Re: NSW Forward Pack

Originally Posted by The Rock

Only Cameorn Smith and Ashley Harrison can be classed as great defenders in the QLD pack. Other than them, there are question marks over the rest like ANY other team in the competition - Therefore, suggesting that the NSW pack is "asking" for trouble is extremely far fetched.

Agreed. "Asking for trouble" is a tag that should be reserved for describing what will be NSW's halves combination. Which is why I am so adamant NSW need to pick a pack that compensate for the lack of creativity in their halves.

Re: NSW Forward Pack

Originally Posted by Ari Gold

Agreed. "Asking for trouble" is a tag that should be reserved for describing what will be NSW's halves combination. Which is why I am so adamant NSW need to pick a pack that compensate for the lack of creativity in their halves.

Agreed. Honestly, just chuck in Carney and Mullen in the halves. The "Safe" option would be Soward and Pearce or Pearce and Wallace. But I'm SICK of safe. Stuff safe. We need to come up with SOMETHING. Sure, Carney could be an absolute flunk and totally screw up. He's known to struggle under pressure at times. However, he's the sort of player that can absolutely tear the opposition apart. Mullen has the BEST short and long passing game out of any other NSW options. Sure he can be terribly inconsistant and go MIA, but again he's the sort of player that can really come up with something, especially with his running game.

Re: NSW Forward Pack

Originally Posted by The Rock

Errrm ok. QLD pack isn't any better, so what point are you trying to prove? QLD can win with a few shakey defenders, and so can NSW.

Scott - More missed tackles than any other QLD forward in last year's series.
Petero - No explaination needed. Obviously a big man who can get caught out a bit. Can be very slow in and around the ruck.
Thaiday - Lol. Can get extremely lazy in defence.
Myles - See Thaiday.
Parker - See Cowboys game.
Taylor - Bahaha.

Only Cameorn Smith and Ashley Harrison can be classed as great defenders in the QLD pack. Other than them, there are question marks over the rest like ANY other team in the competition - Therefore, suggesting that the NSW pack is "asking" for trouble is extremely far fetched.

Scott, Shillo & Taylor aren't flash in defence but that's why two of them are on the bench and we've got defensive specialists in Harrison there to pick up the slack.

Thaiday & Myles are better than Lewis defensively & highlighting Parker's performance against the Cows just emphasises how important it is to be fully fit. He's a good defender and as a Broncos fan I'd be surprised to hear you say otherwise.

Interesting that you didn't bring up Hannant. His defence has been just as good, if not better, than his attack and he's been making plenty of important tackles for us lately.

The important thing here is balance. Williams, Watmough, Tamou, Bird and co. can't be effective in attack if they're going to have all their energy sucked out of them in defence. A defensive specialist is imperative at this level and has been a key reason why Qld has been so succesful over these past few years.

Re: NSW Forward Pack

Thaiday and Myles aren't better than Lewis defensivly.

Also Merrin is a solid defender. And you already said Grant is also a solid defender. The only GENUINE defensive concern in that pack is Watmough and Williams. But Williams will probably play 30 minutes off the bench so he won't have to worry about fatigue. So really, it's only Watmough who was there last year anyway. Bird can have some shockers yes, but he can also have some rippers too.

I don't believe the forward pack I posted has any real defensive concerns overall.

Re: NSW Forward Pack

Both Myles and Thaiday make more tackles than Lewis do and their technique is superior too.

Yes, Grant is a solid defender, IF fit which he isn't right now. I'd love to know which matches Bird's apparently had rippers in defensively because from what I've seen he's always been a liability in that area.

I'm not saying you should start selecting a pack made up of Hindmarshes. But bring in another defensive specialist to balance the side out, push Williams & Watmough to the bench where they belong and that side is pretty spot on.

Re: NSW Forward Pack

Look, it's not about defense or offense. It's about balance. Last night both teams in the ANZAC test made a big mistake - they just picked their best players without thinking of balance. DCE - brought not balance whatsoever. NZ, they brought on Fien for Luke. Massive mistake. Their attack just died when Luke went off.

Gallen is absolutely awesome playing 80mins. It's a mistake to pick a team and not budget for him to play 80mins IMO. Which is why NSW should just pick 3 other props who can play short bursts around him. In that respect Tamou is a great selection. At the same time though, I'm actually not sure what kind of balance you get by having a Glenn Stewart/Watmough type player. What they do is great at club level, but their efforts in Origin just don't have as much contribution to their team because all their team-mates are so much better than at NRL level.

Even if you don't pick Mateo, then IMO it's still a mistake to run with an all-round player like Watmough or Stewart. Actually, now that's he's fit, I dare say Tariq Sims should leap frog both in the pecking order. He's a gamebreaker and a damaging runner who knows how to run angles. NSW will need that a lot more than a guy who's willing to make 30 tackles a game and take 10-12 hit ups that don't really offer much other 6-7m of effort.

Re: NSW Forward Pack

Creagh and Young weren't selected for that role. Hindmarsh was & I'd say he did a good job when he was in his prime, just got too old. I actually thought Scott did a good job for you blokes last year in that role. Helped repel a lot of Qld attack and gave your pack a bit of mongrel and assertiveness you've been missing. They tried to get G. Stewart to play the same role last year and he just wasn't as effective evidently.

It's just a question of form, Beau had good form leading into the series last year and it translated well into that arena, this year he's been pretty ordinary but given his effort last year, it maybe worth showing some loyalty - something NSW haven't done at all in the past 6 years.

And my contributions aren't about taking pot shots at NSW. I'm just advocating selecting a defensive specialist to balance the pack a bit to embellish your attacking players strengths. Your pack is actually pretty close to the mark otherwise, I just have question marks on a couple of players who have been injured or suspended.